Gulabi Badam Pista Kheer/ Rosy Almond Pistachio Milk Pudding

Gulkand aka Rose Marmalade, can't tell you how much I love this, and I had been craving for a sweet sight of this for months that felt like ages. And then, suddenly one day, the 'Prince Charming' on that white Equus caballus/ horse arrives, carrying a silly bottle of Rose Marmalade, and shouting, 'Wake up from sleep, my Rapunzel!'. Haha...I always wanted to be one, not because of being a princess, but just that I loved her pretty gowns and beautiful attires!! Keeping all that Fiona fun apart, I really wanted this 'Gulkand/ Rose Marmalade Jar' desperately and a Romanian friend of mine gifted that to me a month ago. I had to be really grateful to her for that because thinking of this dainty delight was like a dream in Nairobi where it's hard to get refined white sugar even (just because they prefer brown sugar here).

I have a big list of experiments to conduct on this niminy-piminy item and this one is the second successful launch ( after the first one with Pistachio Cookies, if you remember!). 

GULABI BADAM PISTA KHEER/ ROSY ALMOND PISTACHIO MILK PUDDING

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1. Full Cream Milk: 1 litre

2. Rice: 1/2 cup (well-washed and pre-soaked for 2 hours)

3.  Sugar: 6-8 tbs or as per your taste

4. Almond flakes: a handful

5. Chopped Pistachio: a handful

6. Cardamom Powder: 1/4 tsp

7. Gulkand/ Rose Marmalade: 6 tbs

Method:

1. Take a heavy bottomed wok/kadai and pour milk in it.
2. Bring it to a boil and then simmer.
3. Add the pre-washed and soaked rice to that.
4. Let it cook for around 30 minutes on medium heat till the rice goes tender and mushy.
5. Keep stirring every now and then to make sure that the rice doesn't stick to the bottom.
6. Also, keep on scrapping the cream (malai) that layers on the side walls and mix that with the boiling milk.
7. Once the rice is soft and done, and the milk almost reduced to half, add in the sugar, cardamom powder, almonds and pistachios. 
8. Cook for 5 minutes on low flame with occasional stirring.
9. Let it cool and then refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
10. Just before serving, take a spoonful or more of Gulkand/ Rose Marmalade and pour it over the kheer along with some trimmed nuts.
11. Let the gourmet mix it and dive in its aroma and flavors.

Suggestions:

1. You can use any variety of rice, but I always prefer Sona Masuri or Basmati. If you are using sticky rice, beware that it doesn't stick and reduce its quantity a little to avoid excess thickening of the kheer.
2. Full Cream Milk is always the best when it comes to making kheer/rabdi/basundi, but you can opt for versions that lie in your comfort zone.
3. Saffron can be added to enhance the flavor, but I prefer not to mix two strongly aromatic constituents together, ie. Rose and Saffron.
4. Alternately, you can also make Kesar Badam Pista Kheer by adding saffron strands during the boil and omitting the Gulkand part. 
5.  Make sure that the wok/kadai you choose is big enough to avoid any spilling of the milk on boiling.
6. Gulkand/ Rose Marmalade is added towards the end to the cold milk/kheer and not during cooking/boiling just because we don't want any risk with the milk getting curdled because of it. Rose Marmalade has citric acid added to it and thus by no way can be used during boiling. Gulkand on the other hand has no tangy juice in general, but better to avoid than to spoil. :)
7. It always tastes better when refrigerated.

The recipe takes off to my event, Cakes, Cookies and Desserts,

Show Me Your Hits by Spicy Treats, 

Let’s Cook ~ Sweet Somethings by Radhika, Vardhini’s Sweet Luv,
Kalyani’s Served with love, Sumee’s Bon Vivant,
  Dish For Loved Ones by Srav's, Holi Hai at My Cook Book,
Cook Eat Delicious Desserts initiated by Raven